Forget-Me-Not (Rucas Fanfic Week One-Shots)
by yuniesan
Summary: Forget-Me-Not plants symbolize true love. The forget-me-not flowers are a medium, "true blue". And as the name suggests, they are given or used to decorate gifts with the hope the recipient will not forget the giver. It also symbolizes faithful love and memories. (These one-shots are written for Rucas Fanfic Week 2017)
1. Day One - Lockers

**Day 1 Lockers**

 **day 1 / canon verse** ; something that takes place in the canon universe as we know it _(hints: date, second kiss, "this is all just one big misunderstanding")_

Riley was sitting on her bed reading her homework when she noticed the date on her phone, she couldn't figure out why she hadn't realized it before. Lucas had been her boyfriend for almost six months, but because they were so comfortable around each other the days went by quickly. They were filled with laughs, hidden smiles, and him holding her hand like it was the precious thing in the world. She liked the feeling of his hand against hers and the feeling of the warmth of his palm knowing that they were connected by a simple gesture.

"Why haven't we kissed though?" she wondered, remembering their first kiss back in the seventh grade. She was the one who initiated the kiss on the subway after Maya had pulled her hand off of the poll. The memory of that day was burned into her mind, the softness of his lips and the warmth of his face beneath her palms. She remembered her heart was pounding in her chest as she did it, because she remembered her mother had told her once that she had first kissed her father up against the lockers when they were in middle school.

She wondered if that's what she should do but the thought of initiating their first boyfriend, girlfriend kiss scared her. They were official, but she didn't want to take control of that moment, she wanted him to take that chance and she didn't know how to do it. The thought plagued her for a few days until she didn't know what to do. Instead she put together pictures of all of their adventures since they started dating, because at least she could give him the album as a present at the end of the week. Their official six month anniversary.

* * *

Lucas was sitting in the hole after practice waiting for Zay to finish flirting with half of the cheerleaders. It gave him time to think about what he wanted to give to Riley for their six month anniversary.

"Six months," he said with a smile as he thought about that first day they met on the subway, and about his confession at the ski lodge. He couldn't figure out what to give her, because to him she was perfect and didn't need anything other than a purple cat and a giant smile. He wanted to give her the world but they were just high school students so he didn't want to go too far just yet.

He kept thinking about what they hadn't done and the first thing that came to his mind was a kiss, their first almost kiss was interrupted by Farkle, even though they were in Romeo and Juliet. In the back of his mind he had the feeling that Mr. Matthews was the one who gave Farkle the idea because the man had been afraid of their growing feelings for one another all throughout middle school. Even now when they're dating he makes noises, and faces if the two of them had any kind of moment with one another.

"I don't know what to do," he said. The only thing he could think about was taking a chance and just kissing her right in front of the lockers the next morning. He sighed and stood up as Zay came over to him, the entire walk home he ignored everything his best friend said, as thoughts of Riley plagued his mind. Instead he went to his room and looked at the necklace of the small purple cat that he had gotten for her and wondered if it would be enough.

* * *

Riley woke up and stared at her ceiling, she had finished the album for Lucas the night before, the first picture in the album was one of her kissing Lucas on the subway that Maya had taken on a whim. She had forgotten that she had the picture in the first place because she had buried it after Texas happened, only to find it when she was looking for pictures of the two of them. The last picture was one of the two of them at the Mount Sun Lodge that her mother had given her when she told her about the album. Her father made a noise before leaving the room which only caused her mother to roll her eyes and smile at Riley. Riley just laughed because she knew what her relationship with Lucas meant to her father, but in the end she always told him how much it meant that he was her father.

Maya walked into her room like normal but for some reason Riley couldn't hear anything anyone was saying around her as her thoughts over took everything. Six months, and they had survived the possibility of her moving across an entire ocean but they still hadn't had a second kiss. She didn't know what to do.

Farkle joined them on their walk to school, Smackle not far behind him, the two were inseparable, and she wondered if the two geniuses had their first kiss. Her friends continued to talk as Riley put her stuff in her locker and thought about when she would give Lucas his gift. She hadn't noticed that the day had passed by them quickly, and she couldn't face Lucas because she was trapped in her own thoughts about whether they would kiss again. It was the end of the day and she was standing in an empty hallway looking at the gift in her hand wondering if she would give it to him while they were all studying, or wait until he walked her home, all she could do was sigh as she looked at the purple giftwrap and the giant ribbon she had wrapped around it.

* * *

Lucas had grabbed his bag but his mind was filled with worry, Riley hadn't looked at him all day, she looked lost and it hurt that she didn't say anything about what was bothering her. He wanted to make her feel better but the only thing he could think about was the kiss, and he didn't know if that would make her happy, or if it was just purely selfish of him. He didn't know what to do.

When he saw her standing by her locker sighing while looking at a gift wrapped present in her hand he realized that the only thing she was worrying about was whether he would like his present, except for him it could be a piece of dirt from Texas and it would be perfect because all he needed was her smile. He slowly walked up to her and took her hand in his, his heart sped up as the softness of her palm touched the rough edges of his hand. She looked up at him and smiled, as he chocolate brown eyes reached into the deepest parts of his soul.

He took a chance and slowly pushed her towards her closed locked, his heart was pounding in his ears as he slowly closed the distance between the two of them. First he kissed her on her forehead, taking in the smell of her hair, today it smelled like coconut and it made him wonder if she stopped using the strawberry shampoo she normally used. Then he kissed her cheek, taking in the softness of her skin against his lips. He kissed the edge of her lips, as he drowned in the smell of the most perfect girl in his life, before slowly settling on her soft lips. He hadn't realized that he was missing this softness until his lips landed on hers. As the taste of strawberry kiwi lip gloss landed on his mouth. Riley dropped the present she had been holding and pulled him closer, he could feel her lips turn into a small smile as he wrapped his arms around her small waist as he pulled her closer.

When he pulled away she smiled at him and said "Finally."


	2. Day Two - A Hand to Hold

**Day 2 - A Hand to Hold**

 **day 2 / hand-holding** ; we know these kiddos are always holding hands, time to write about it even more _(hints: reaching out, holding back, "your hands are cold")_

There were days where Riley didn't expect it, and it all started after the trip to the ski lodge, after Lucas and his confession. It was a simple gesture, he took her hand and rubbed his thumb over it, but each time he did it to her it sent shivers up her arm. He often took her hand when everyone else was too busy in their own conversations, even when she wasn't specifically talking to her. The warmth of his hand against hers, and the feeling of the callous on his fingers from playing sports, or helping out his Pappy Joe over the summer months. It was rough against her hand, but it was all Lucas.

She hadn't realized how much he did it until one day he had to go to Texas on a family emergency and all she could think about was missing the feeling of his hand. He spent two weeks in Texas, and she began to feel like an addict in withdrawal. They facetimed every night, and she would send him text messages when she woke up in the morning. One day she reached out towards where he normally sat at their lunch table only to put her hand in Smackle's.

"Sorry Bubbles I don't swing that way," Smackle had said making Riley blush.

"Sorry Smackle," she quickly replied. "It's a habit, I hadn't realized that I did it so much."

Smackle smiled at her before she turned back to Farkle and started arguing about why the school should switch their lunches to something different because of the biology of the sludge they fed the students. Riley tuned out the conversation and pushed around her food, only to leave before the bell rang only to hide out in by the stairs and waiting for her next class.

When everyone talked about going to Topanga's after school Riley made an excuse and walked off hoping that no one would follow her. Instead of going home she walked towards Washington Square Park, as the snow fell around her and the cold settled in she sat on one of the stone slabs and watched the flurries fall to the ground. It was almost Christmas and snow in December was very rare in New York. It happened, but not often enough so she savored the feeling of Christmas and the bitter cold that had settled over the city.

She thought about Lucas' warm hand against hers, as he talked about sports, or about the Knicks game because he knew she loved the team. She missed his smile as she went off on a tangent about the team dynamic, or how she would try and catch snowflakes in her mouth. But most of all she missed his smile and the warmth of his hand against hers.

* * *

Lucas had just returned to New York, and his first thought was to find Riley, but he didn't know where she would be. At least he hadn't until it had started snowing. The last time it snowed he watched her try to catch a million snowflakes in her mouth only to slip and fall on the ice. They had been dating for a year now, and the things everyone else thought was silly about Riley, he loved and missed when they were apart too long.

He said a quick goodbye to his mother before rushing out of his apartment and walking towards Washington Square Park. Since the holidays were so close he knew that she would sit in the park just watching people, of looking at the lights that were strung throughout the street as the vendors from Union Square Park set up. He liked to watch her face as she looked through all of the small shops, because he knew she would buy something for everyone for the holidays from these small pop up stores. She was slow and considered every option she had before picking what she thought was the perfect gift.

She was his perfect gift and most of the time he would wrap a scarf around their shoulders as he helped her carry the bags back to her place. He would take a picture each time she looked at something that sparkled and more often than not, he would buy what she was looking at without telling her. He loved that she would buy a million gifts to make everyone happy, but he also thought that she deserved something as well. It's how he picked up the purple cat necklace he had given her on their six month anniversary, or the purple kitty ear muffs her got for her on their one year anniversary. She had given him the album, which he adored and often put more pictures inside, and on their one year anniversary she had given him a Stetson hat, with a small purple cat sitting next to a little blue dog.

He missed her so much over the last two weeks that it hurt to hang up with her at night. So when he spotted her in the park staring out into the crowds of people mulling about he slowly made his way to her and sat down without saying anything. He waited a moment before taking her hand.

"Riley," he said shocked at how cold her hand felt. "Your hands are cold."

She looked up at him with a surprised look on her face before she greeted him with a soft kiss as she took his hands into hers.

"Wishes do come true," she said smiling at him. "I missed you."

He couldn't help but smile at her as he pulled her hands towards his mouth, "I missed you too Princess."

He slowly blew into her hands rubbing them together with his before pulling her up and taking her to the shops at Union Square and buying her a set of purple knit gloves for her hands, and a dark blue set for himself. They walked around but instead of looking for presents for everyone else, they just held hands as he twirled her around.

"Best time to be a Riley," she said as he put his arm around her shoulder and kissed on the cheek.


	3. Day Three - My bear

**Day 3 - My Bear**

* * *

 **day 3 / one exception au** ; "au where everything is the same except _" you know you've heard it before, and even minor changes can have big impacts _(no hints for this one as it's really… really open-ended)_

* * *

Riley loved the look Maya had given her, all because Maya was happy about waking up early for Tacos and a bobble head of her favorite food. That changed when Maya made the tacos more important than losing a piece of her childhood. It bothered her as she dug through her room looking for Beary the Bear Bear, how Maya complained and did nothing while everyone else looked for the stuffed toy.

"You okay there?" Lucas asked her after they looked around her room for what seemed like the millionth time.

"You remember when I wanted to change the bay window last year," she said sitting down at the edge of her bed, her bedroom torn apart.

Lucas nodded, "Yeah I also remembered how much I learned about who you were before I met you," he smiled as he sat down next to her. "I got to hear about a cute little Riley, who still believed in true love and cowboys saving her."

Riley couldn't help but smile, she knew Lucas was trying to cheer her up. "Remember how Maya reacted just because I wanted to have my bedroom grow up with me, and even though I would change the window it wouldn't change how much it meant."

"I remember Riley, and the meaning of the window hasn't changed even though it's grown up with you."

She sighed thinking that this was childish of her to be bothered by this when the same thing had happened a year before. "Why is Maya acting like this one thing in the world, the one thing I never wanted to let go of from my childhood, is completely meaningless."

Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing, but thinking about it and looking at Riley's heartbroken face he understood that there was something else underneath it all. Maya had put tacos and a bobble head ahead of something that meant so much to Riley because she wanted tacos. He could never understand how Maya acted one way when it came to Riley, but other times when it meant the most to Riley she acted like working towards a goal would just make her tired or she didn't want to do a single thing.

"I can pretend to understand your relationship with Maya, but honestly somedays I don't," he sighed thinking about their lives since Texas, since everything over the last year and a half.

"I think that maybe," Riley sighed looking at her hands. "Well sometimes I wonder if I should spend less time with Maya and find myself, it feels like she's overtaking my own feelings. Whenever I want to do something, whether it's to empower the girls, or even this she reacts like it's too much of a bother."

"It shouldn't be like that," he said pulling her close. "I mean I don't understand why she's so obsessed with getting tacos, but won't leave to actually go get them."

"I think that she believes that if she leaves it would leave a rift in our friendship, and well it wouldn't and I don't really care about the tacos, but in the end she would come back and help out when everything was said and done… but it feels like she wants my childhood to die out, like I shouldn't hold onto at least a small piece of my childhood."

Lucas pulled Riley to the bay window and told her about the sack of gold his Pappy Joe had given him, and how even now he hasn't opened it. When he realized something else, Riley's bear was a source of comfort and in a way maybe Lucas was meant to replace that for her.

"I'll be your Beary," he said but she just gave him a confused look. "If we don't find him, I'll be here for you Riley. I comfort you, and listen to you when you want to rant but don't really want to tell anyone else even Maya, because I'm thinking that that's what Beary was for, he was your confidant away from your family, from your friends, from everyone even Maya. So I'll be that for you."

Riley couldn't help but smile as she looked at her boyfriend, he was giving her something that she thought she lost and in the end she had gained something bigger than she had before.

"So if my family is driving me crazy I can text you, or if I just need a hug."

"I'll come over whenever you need to cuddle," he smiled at her and she could feel her heart quicken at the thought of them cuddling at the bay window watching movies or just talking.

"Okay," she said getting up and grabbing his hand.

Together they walked into the living room as Josh stood there complaining about college and how Riley still has to look for Beary. Instead she shook her head and looked at Lucas and smiled, before getting up and patting Josh on the shoulder.

"I guess I have to grow up," she said before turning to Maya. "Now, Maya you and Josh go grab enough tacos for the rest of us, take Farkle and Zay if you want. I'm going to start cleaning up, because this place is a mess."

Lucas laughed when she mentioned the disaster that occurred in the house but he grabbed her hand and she felt his thumb as he made small circles on her skin. It was calming and she liked how it felt.

"And if you still want a bobble head, just beg them," Lucas said as he pulled Riley away. "We're going start cleaning Riley's room."

Her father made a noise and Riley knew that the man was freaking out about them being alone in the room together, but when her mother checked in on her twenty minutes later the two of them were almost done picking everything up. They finished just as the taco crew returned with Smackle in tow, but Riley just sat down at the bay window and looked at her room.

"Goodbye Beary," she said as Lucas sat down next to her and pulled her into a hug. She squeezed him but instead of the squeak that Beary made Lucas just kissed her on her forehead and held her. She knew that this would make up for losing her bear.


	4. Day Four - Fight for Us

**Day 4 Fight for Us  
**

 **day 4 / argument** ; even the best of couples have their bad days, but not all arguments are all that serious _(hints: long distance, secrets, "you know what? i'm over it.")_

Riley was sitting inside of Topanga's as the snow fell outside, it was a cold February afternoon and her friends had all scattered trying to hide from the brunette who was on a tirade because she was having an argument with Lucas. After a year and a half of being together the two of them had their first big fight and Riley couldn't help but fume over the whole thing.

"Riley why are you angry," Maya's mother said as she sat down next to her.

Riley glared at the woman and just stood up and walked out of the café without a word. The snow was coming down heavily around her and she didn't care to stop so she continued to walk without a destination ending up at the edge of Central Park which was forty blocks from her house. She didn't have her metrocard, and the little cash she had she used to buy a pretzel because she didn't really care about anything but the fight she had had with her boyfriend. She sat down at a nearby bench and watched the people around her, she sneered each time she saw a couple together wonder why she bothered to be in a relationship with someone.

But then she remembered how long it took for Lucas and her to get to where they were and she couldn't help but cry. She loved him, but in a way she was still afraid of losing him, the fears that she had in middle school were still at the forefront of her mind and lately they kept resurfacing because she watched the couples at school get together and break up every single weekend. Even when Darby and Yogi, who everyone loved as a couple broke up because Darby was moving to California with her family brought back those fears. Although the couple got back together after an hour and swore that they would do the long distance relationship because they couldn't live without the other one.

* * *

Lucas couldn't help but think that Riley had finally gone off the deep end, the argument was a stupid one and he couldn't figure out why on earth they had had it in the first place.

"She's freaking crazy," he said as he sat down inside of Topanga's wondering where Riley was.

"Who?" Farkle asked sitting down next to him.

"Riley, who else?"

"What did you two fight about anyway?" the genius asked him as he took a sip of his tea. Lucas ignored the question and watched the heavy snow fall outside the window. "Earth to Lucas… Come on freak face tell me what's happening."

"We had a fight over how to cook a grilled cheese sandwich," Lucas said feeling ashamed about it but he couldn't figure out how it had happened.

Farkle stared at him for .05 seconds before he started laughing at him, he had never seen his friend laugh so hard and as much as Lucas wanted to laugh he didn't because Riley hadn't spoken to him since. When Farkle's laughter finally died down he looked up at him amused.

"That is by far the most ridiculous thing I have ever heard in my life," Farkle said his eyes shining with unshed tears from his laughing fit. "Explain please because I need to know."

"Fine," Lucas said glaring at his friend. "I went over to her house yesterday to study, my mom made some of her famous tomato soup and I thought we should make grilled cheese sandwiches to go with it, but when Riley started making them I told her it would be better to put the butter on the pan and not the bread, and I told her to use more than one kind of cheese, and I may have told her that I should do it and she glared at me, before she slammed the spatula down and told me to do it myself before she ran off towards her room and slammed the door."

"What did you do after that?"

"I turned off the stove and went to talk to her but she told me to get the hell out of the apartment, I sat there for an hour before her parents came back, and I left. She hasn't talked to me today."

"But why would Riley act like that over a sandwich?"

"I don't know," Lucas said feeling defeated all of a sudden. He couldn't understand why all of a sudden the most important girl in his life would act so out of character. It reminded him of Texas when she was holding back and telling him about the whole brother thing… and that's when it came back to him. "I think she's afraid of our relationship again."

Farkle looked at him surprised, which means that his genius friend hadn't figured it out at all, "Okay how did you come up with that conclusion?" he asked staring at Lucas.

So of course Lucas took a minute to think about what had been happening recently and the first thought that came to mind was about Darby and Yogi. Even though they had only broken up for an hour it had effected Riley.

"Darby and Yogi," Lucas said as his thoughts ran a mile a minute.

"Oh," Farkle said. "Their breakup was brief though, but I can see how it would put that fear in Riley's mind, those two have been together since Middle School."

Maya's mother walked up to them and sat down on the chair next to Lucas, "Lucas, honey, I don't know what's going on, but Riley left here about two hours ago and she looked angry."

"Where did she go?" Lucas said as he stood up realizing that if Riley wasn't there and she wasn't at home when he went to talk to her he didn't know where she would go.

"I don't know but you might want to find her soon, the snow is getting pretty bad out there," she said before walking away.

Lucas felt his heart drop, he didn't know where Riley would go outside of their usual hangouts. They had never had a fight so of course she never had to rush off angry. He pulled out his phone and called her, but the phone rang over and over without an answer. He kept trying until he heard the phone click and a sniffle on the other side.

"Riley," he said but he didn't know if he could hear her over the pounding of his heart.

"I'm so sorry Lucas," she said and he could tell that she was crying on the other end.

"Riley where are you?"

"Central Park, but they shut down the trains, and I don't have cash and I'm cold."

"I'll come get you, don't go anywhere just stay on the line," he said rushing out of the café towards his house. Hoping that he could get his mother to drive him but he noticed that all of the streets were completely covered in snow which meant that his mother hadn't gotten back. Riley on the other side of the phone telling him that she had ducked into a Starbucks but they were closing soon.

Not long after that her phone died and Lucas felt his heart break, he reached his house and saw his mother just pulling into her parking space, he stopped her and quickly explained what had happened. She agreed to drive him to the park to look for Riley, all the while asking him to explain the situation.

* * *

Riley sat outside the Starbucks as the employees closed up, one of them gave her a coffee so she could keep warm while she waited for her ride but it had gone cold and she didn't want to drink it anymore. She felt ashamed for fighting over something so stupid. She felt scared because she was stuck miles from her house without any way of getting home. It was dark out and no one was around except for the occasional car passing by, or the snow plows as their bells rang as they swept the snow off the ground.

"Riley," she heard someone say but it felt distant. She was tired so she didn't know if she was hallucinating or if someone had actually called out to her. "Riley," the voice said again before she was swept up into Lucas' arms. She started crying and saying sorry to him but it was muffled by her sobs as he wrapped her up in a blanket and held her close.

"Come on Princess, my mom is driving us home," he said as he pulled her towards the car. "And don't worry about the fight Riley, it was stupid, and I'm sorry that we had it. I should have known something was wrong or else you wouldn't have started it in the first place."

"Lucas I'm afraid," she told him. "I don't want anything to happen to us."

"Nothing will as long as we talk like we have since we became a couple," he said as they reached the car. "I love you, and I want you to remember that."

"I love you too," she said snuggling closer to him.

When they got to his house, his mother called her parents telling them that when the streets were clear they would bring Riley home. Riley knew that his mother had overheard their conversation in the car and realized that the two of them needed some time together to talk. So they talked, Riley wearing one of Lucas' hoodies over a shirt and sweats that his mother had loaned her to get out of her clothes while they were washed. The two of them talked but mostly they sat on the couch in each other's arms, as Riley soaked in the warmth of her boyfriend falling asleep in his arms.

"Goodnight Princess," was the last thing she heard.


	5. Day Five - Love among the Stars

**To the person asking for a continuation of the Bear chapter, I'm not planning on writing it because these are prompts for Rucas Fanfic week, but there's one prompt in which I do have a fight with Riley and Maya planned, which is for the Fix-It day, which I think is Day 7, so look forward to that.**

* * *

 **Day 5 – Love among the Stars**

 **day 5 / future** ; jump past the canon world we know and take a shot at where these losers will be down the road _(hints: senior year, college, "can you believe we've been dating for _ years?")_

* * *

Lucas was nervous, they had their ups and downs, and a lot of the downs he felt so guilty about, but he loved Riley more than anything else. They fought and made up, they laughed and cried, and every once and a while he was reminded of those terrible days where they weren't together. College was the hardest, because although he didn't leave New York, Riley did, she went to Yale while he went to Cornell. They saw each other every weekend when they had the time, and spent their summers working in the city spending every second they could together. He was always nervous that she would meet someone better while she was away, that she would realize that she didn't really love him.

That's how they had their first major fight, over the phone after he heard a guy in the background talking to her. The guy was just a friend she said, but for some reason in his mind he thought she was leaving him. He broke the phone after their fight, and felt himself losing the battle between his two sides. She showed up at his door right afterwards, driving for hours to get to him, soothing him and telling him that the guy he had heard was her roommate's best friend, and he was gay. The guy even facetimed them explaining what had been going on, the group were planning for Riley to take Lucas away on a secret weekend getaway at his parents' cabin. He felt stupid afterwards.

They hadn't broken up, each fight they ever had since then, or even before were silly fights in the end, because they were both fighting the insecurities they had over the whole relationship. Their friends thought that the two of them would grow out of it, and they did when they were together throughout high school, in college on the other hand they were trapped in school that were in different states so of course those insecurities had resurfaced, even though they were unwarranted.

"Love is hard, you have to try harder," she had told him one day when she was leaving to go back to school. So he did, he focused on his school work, and graduated a year early, but instead of going back to the city, he moved in with Riley and started working on getting into a PH.D program while she finished. Their parents didn't know that they had moved in together, because they just wanted some time to be happy together. No interference from their families, their friends, or even their lives back in New York. It was what they had needed in the end, a fresh start.

So now on their seventh anniversary, less than a year from Riley finishing school, Lucas set up rose petals and fairy light in their small apartment. The ring he had inherited from his Grandmother, Pappy Joe had mailed it to him after he had visited the couple over the summer with some furniture he had made for them. The man was the only one who knew they were living together, and he had made sure that Lucas did everything he could to fulfill his dreams. The weekend before he had gone to New York, and asked for Riley's hand in marriage, much to the shock of her father, but he had gotten their blessing.

Seven years, of love, and fights, and silly little things, seven years of birthdays and holiday's, seven years together. All he knew was that she was his other half, and without her falling on his lap all those years ago, he wouldn't know where he would be or who he would be. He wouldn't have become a veterinarian, well he's not one yet but he's getting there, he wouldn't have gotten through High School let alone get into one of the top programs in the country. She was his everything, and he wanted to make sure that for the rest of their lives they would have nothing but love between the two of them.

So he waited in the living room, for Riley to come home to a surprise proposal, and his heart on his sleeve.

* * *

Riley was in shock, she had double check, she triple check, but the lines on the test kept coming back positive and she couldn't believe it. They were so careful since they had moved in together, since they first had sex after their high school prom when they had snuck away just to be together. Her former roommate assured her constantly that Lucas loved her, but after the doctor's appointment confirmed the results she couldn't understand what was happening. She had been so stressed over test and everything that she had forgotten to keep track of her period, that she hadn't realized that she was three months late. All because of work, and school were stressing her, and the only thing that was keeping her grounded was Lucas who always worked so hard.

So she cried, because now she was pregnant, she cried because she was afraid that the two of them would have to give up so much because of the little peanut inside of her. So when she got home that night after work she was surprised to see Lucas on bended knee looking at her with so much love in his eyes, that she couldn't stop herself from falling to the ground and crying.

"Riley what's wrong?" he said as he rushed to her side.

"You're going to propose," she said looking up at him with tears in her eyes. "How long have you been planning this?"

She wanted to know, because she needed the affirmation from him of how much he loved her before she told him about the baby.

"Since Pappy Joe told me about my grandmother's ring," he said smiling at her. "Riley Matthews, I want you to be my wife, the mother to our children, the light of my life, the one I can build my life with."

She didn't think, she didn't say anything but, "I'm pregnant."

Lucas looked at her shocked, and she automatically thought that this was the moment where everything would end. But instead he pulled her close and kissed her on the head, before kissing her tear stained face, and finally settling on her lips.

"Well this is earlier than I planned for a family, but we'll make it work," he said making her laugh. "Although you still haven't answered my question."

"You still want to marry me?" she asked although it wasn't so much of a question as it was a statement.

"Riley, I've loved you for so long, of course I want to marry you, I want our lives together, I mean yeah we have our insecurities, but we always work through them, because without you I would be lost. I would have missed the greatest thing I could ever have."

"Then yes I will marry you Lucas, and we can have our little peanut baby, and we will probably have to work really hard, but it will be our family."

* * *

Lucas and Riley would end up moving to Texas, while Lucas worked on his PH.D and Riley worked as a kindergarten teaching assistant. Pappy Joe helped with the baby, and their family and friends visited constantly. Even though Riley had dreamed of writing for Vogue, she found happiness teaching, and would end up writing best-selling stories about fierce little girls conquering the world. Lucas would become an on-call veterinarian, but he would also pamper his girls with love and affection. Teaching he daughter Lily Grace to ride ponies, while Riley was pregnant with their second child. While Riley wrote her stories, Lucas worked hard on being a good father even learning to cook something more than mac and cheese.

When the nights were theirs they would talk and kiss, he held his wife with everything he had, and thanked the stars for giving him everything he could ever wish for.


	6. Day Six - Hiding Out

**Day 6 – Hiding Out**

 **day 6 / hugging** ; just let the kids hug gosh dang it _(hints: good news, long day, "_ _how long does your ideal hug last?_ _"_ _)_

* * *

They were hiding in her closet and she didn't want to leave, Lucas had his arms wrapped around her waist hugging her close to him, she could feel the beat of his heart from the closeness. Her own heart was pounding so hard she swore it would jump out of her chest. They were hiding because they just wanted to have at least one afternoon to themselves, but in their world they were constantly interrupted, by their friends, their family, her father who sent people to keep an eye on them. They had been dating for a few months and Riley had realized that even their dates had some sort of supervision so she had suggested they drop off their bags in her room and find a way to hide from everyone they knew.

It didn't work out so well, since they were currently trapped in her closet.

When they had gotten to her apartment, the two of them took out their phones and dropped them on the desk so that they would be able to grab them before they left. They were just going to go to the Central Park Zoo, nothing too crazy, just the two of them. But that changed the minute they heard the tell-tale sound of footsteps coming up the fire escape, at the same time she heard her father slam the front door closed. So Riley panicked and shoved Lucas into the closet and jumped inside after him. They were well hidden, so if someone were to open the closet they wouldn't see them unless they moved the large amount of boxes they were hiding behind.

Except now they were closer than they had ever been, while their friends questioned where the two of them could have gone off to.

"There phones are here, and so is their stuff," Riley heard Maya say.

"That means we can't track them down," Farkle said, and Riley knew that the genius and his girlfriend would track them down in an instant if they had anything with a GPS.

"Boy her dad is going to go crazy," Zay said, and Riley could still tell that he was close to the closet. Lucas hugged her close, placing a hand over her mouth to keep her from making any kind of noise. Instead she felt her breath hitch at the closeness.

"Maybe he wouldn't notice," Maya said.

"No I'm pretty sure that even with all of us here, that man would notice that his daughter wasn't," Zay said.

"Let's get out of here before he questions us then," Maya said but Riley heard as the bedroom door slammed against her dresser. She winced thinking about the damage that her door would have from her father constantly chasing Lucas out of the room.

"Where are they?" she heard her father said. "I overheard them talking about rushing off before anyone could go with them."

"Don't know," Zay said.

The voices in the room seemed to fade away as Riley became all too aware of the closeness of Lucas, and the smell of his cologne as it invaded her senses. She realized that she had never actually been this close to him before, well except for that time in seventh grade when she actually sniffed him, but now it felt like something different. The smell of musk, cedar, and sunshine, which Riley can only attribute to Lucas playing baseball, but the smell was messing with her mind. While at the same time she wanted to memorize it because the moment they were caught they wouldn't have the chance to be this close again.

Lucas couldn't move, he knew the moment he did he would knock something over and Mr. Matthews would chase him out of the room and banish him forever. But at that moment he didn't want to move, Riley was so close to him that everything else fell away. She smelled like flowers and summer, and it made him happy and nervous at the same time. He was a guy, and a girl this close, especially a girl he liked made him feel things he didn't think were appropriate at the moment. He could hear the argument outside the door, he could hear their friends argue with Mr. Matthews about their relationship and honestly at that point he didn't care about any of it.

 _Think about the cold war…._

 _Farkle hitting him with a baseball bat…_

 _Zay throwing him a baseball…_

 _Never seeing Riley again because they were found in the closet…._

The last one almost broke his heart.

It felt like an eternity had passed before he realized that everyone had left, some of them talking about going to Topanga's to see if the pair had gone there. Mr. Matthews huffing about. But they hadn't moved an inch. It was dark in the closet except for the little light coming from the bottom of the door.

Riley looked up at him, he could feel her eyes on him, and all he could do was smile, they were almost home free. They waited another ten minutes, while they sat there wrapped in each other's arms before they moved again. Riley checked her room to see if anyone was around before she told him the coast was clear, they double checked the hallway, and the fire escape. No one was around. Riley took his hand and pulled him towards the top of the fire escape before they reached the roof. They sat on the bench and looked out to the city that surrounded them, Lucas put his arm around her shoulder and pulled her close.

"That was close," he said in her ear as he hugged her.

"You think," she said smiling. "I don't get why they won't leave us alone."

"I think it has something to do with the fact that your father thinks that I will corrupt you," he said smiling. "He should be more worried about Maya doing that."

Riley laughed, and he could feel himself relax for a moment.

"I wonder if they ever checked up here?" he said looking around.

"Not likely, I don't usually tell anyone when I come up here," Riley said to him. "I have this secret place up here that I used to hide in when I was little."

"Really," he said surprised. "Yes, Maya didn't know about it because I stopping coming up here when she became my friend."

"Where?"

Riley pulled him up and brought him over to where the roof of the houses connected, there was a small crawl space filled with potted flowers that led to a small landing. It was hidden so no one could really see if from the outside, but it was big enough to fit them both in comfortably.

"I used to hide here, the woman who lives in the apartment made it for me when I was little."

"How did you know each other?"

"She was one of the people who babysat me, she noticed that I liked to hide in here and made it just for me."

"That was nice of her," he said as they settled into the crawl space. Once again she was in his arms and he was happy to have her there.

"She still lives there, and she knows that sometimes I hide in here when my family gets to be too much," Riley said sighing into his arms. "I bring her cookies, and we talk. I'll introduce you one day."

"That would be nice," he said smiling into her hair.

They sat there, not talking, but enjoying each other's company. Later on he realized that it would become their hiding place when they wanted to get away from the constant supervision of their friends and Riley's father. He met the woman who had made the small space for Riley, and he helped out as much as Riley did when they came over. No one ever found out about the spot, but they were always lectured about hiding out in the first place, but their relationship was stronger each time because they got the chance just to be together without the pressure of everyone around them.


	7. Day Seven - New Year's Revisited

**Day 7 - New Year's Revisited**

 **day 7 / family OR fix-it fic** ; two options here for the last official day of the week. you could go for the family angle, whether that means the matthews or the kids of our kids is up to you! on the other hand, if there was something mj and co. did that really pushed your buttons, this is your chance to fix it!

(I decided to fix the triangle before it happens, warning angst and Riley standing up for herself coming up)

* * *

She had been hiding from her friends, from her family, but mostly from Lucas. When she told him that she saw him as a brother she felt a part of herself die, even though she was too young to have these feelings. She was only in middle school, she wasn't supposed to feel that way, but she did. Of course the minute she went to her mother to cry about what was happening, her mother handed her off to Maya, which hurt a little and she had to put up the façade that she was alright with her best friend being with the boy she had feelings for. She did everything for Maya, she would give Maya the world, but in the end everything in her world was falling apart and the only person who saw it was Farkle, and she thought Zay saw it as well. But they weren't really friends… not yet anyway, and his loyalty was towards Lucas, in the way Maya's loyalty was supposed to be towards her.

Then Riley saw Maya's face in Texas, and knew that her best friend was harboring feelings for the boy Riley had liked for so long now. It hurt, it hurt because in her mind she thought that friends don't keep secrets, that friends tell each other everything… but it hurt the most because it was Lucas. So Riley stepped back, and gave them a chance. It shouldn't have hurt when Maya told her that something happened between them. It shouldn't have hurt to see them on a date, the same night she went out with Charlie. Nothing should hurt because she put herself in that position.

Everything hurt.

And Farkle noticed.

The secret would come out at midnight on New Year's if Riley didn't say anything to Lucas, Farkle swore he would say it. So when school let out for the holiday break, she hid herself away from everyone. She went to the Library, but it had too many memories, she went to the park, but it was too cold, she went to the museum but the paintings reminded her of Maya. She finally found herself inside of Grand Central Station, looking up at the constellations in the ceiling, and matching hers and Lucas' because she still had hope that her heart would be saved, and that Lucas would notice.

* * *

He stayed away.

It hurt him and he knew that his friends were keeping something from him, but he stayed away from everyone. He didn't want to go on another so called date with Maya, it didn't feel right to him to go out with her. He didn't want another smoothie poured over his head because he can't have a decent conversation with her without a single snarky comment. He was just tired.

He missed Riley.

Where could he go? He didn't know, he was about ten seconds away from asking his parents about letting him spend the week in Texas with Pappy Joe, but then he's reminded that everything happened in Texas… his heart breaks just thinking about it. He couldn't understand how it happened it how quickly he was being pushed at Maya. Yeah he almost kissed her, and yeah he stopped, why he had done it was because she was pushing his buttons, she was pushing him and he could feel the frayed edges of who he used to be coming out.

When he was in Texas, his darker side would have done it, it would have completely broken everything that he had built with Riley for a moment to forget all of the problems of his life. But when he looked into Maya's eyes, he realized that it wasn't Riley. Her chocolate brown eyes, her soft smile, the way she would steal glances at him when she thought he wasn't looking. Riley who showed him the sun, when all he saw was the dark grey clouds.

Riley.

"I miss you so much," he said to no one in particular.

So he walked around the city, and he watched the people. He didn't have a destination, he just kept going in hopes of finding a way out of the problem he now found himself in. All he saw was Riley, he thought he was imagining it but that's all he saw, the train, the library, even as the snow began to fall he thought of her.

He stood inside Grand Central staring at the constellations wondering why everything was so hard. Even when she felt so close.

* * *

Riley found herself at the bay window watching the snow fall. She had taken the train right as the snow began to fall and went home. She sat in the corner seat, and thought about Lucas. It was their spot, where they met, where they had their first kiss, where everything in her life had changed. It all started because she wanted to be like Maya, but now she just wanted to be that naïve little girl who had hope for everything, including the love of the boy who had burrowed his way into her heart.

So she watch the snow as it blanketed the city, and thought about Lucas.

"Riley," her mother called out but she ignored it. She didn't want to talk to anyone, especially when that person wasn't going to really listen to her. She didn't want to talk to her father either because he would just turn it into a lesson, and she wasn't in the mood for everyone to know her life, or her feelings. Sometimes it was a burden to have her father as her teacher.

"Riley I was calling you," her mother said walking into her room.

"Sorry I didn't hear you," she said lying to her mother. "What do you need?"

"Maya's here," her mother said.

Riley had pulled up the fire escape ladder, because she didn't want anyone to come up, but she forgot to ask that she wanted to be alone.

"I'll send her up," her mother said without thinking to ask to see if Riley wanted to see anyone. So Riley pulled on her Ugg boots and climbed out her window without a word and climbed down the steps and down to the ground. Only to backtrack and walk in through the front door and climb back up to the roof. Her footsteps showed that she had left, but in reality she just went around so that they wouldn't know.

She didn't want to talk to her best friend.

So Riley hid on the roof, the snow settling around her as she watched the city. She didn't care that it was cold, she didn't care that everyone would be worried because of course it would cause a big mess since Maya was the one who showed up.

Her phone buzzed, but she turned off the GPS so no one could track her. She had made sure to disable the tracking feature on her phone after Texas, because the internet was an easy way to find information. Tutorials and all.

She wanted to be alone.

* * *

The call came an hour after he had gotten home.

 _Riley's missing._

He couldn't figure out what had happened since the break had only started, but he was afraid that something had happened to her. But as soon as the call came, he received a message from Riley.

 _I'm sorry Lucas. I didn't want to be your sister, but I would do anything for Maya, and give her everything. Even if it meant that I would be hurt the most._

He couldn't understand but when he tried to call the phone went straight to voicemail. The messages never went through. So he cried, because he was hurting for Riley, and he was angry at Maya.

After a few minutes he sent the message along with a long explanation to the one person he thought would help them figure this all out. And then he left.

He needed to find Riley.

* * *

In the end Riley went home, she was freezing but she didn't care, the cold opened her eyes to the problem at hand. Maya didn't like Lucas the way she did. For some reason she got this urge to fall for him after the yearbooks, it wasn't the same. She wasn't sure about any of it, but in the end Riley was sure of one thing and that was her Uncle Josh.

Josh who has always been the one person Maya was always after, even when he constantly pushed the age difference between them. Josh who was the reason she snuck out to go to a college party just to see him. If Riley held onto the insecurities about her relationship with Lucas than Maya had the same ones for Josh.

When she stepped into her apartment, her parents fawned over her, her brother hugged, her friends just stared as if she had done something that was out of character. The last few months for her was out of character. Then she saw Maya, tear stained and worried, but for some reason Riley knew that she needed to push Maya to admit her own fears, the ones that stemmed from Josh, and herself. Riley was done giving her best friend everything, because she needed her best friend to start fighting for herself.

Her parents lectured her as she stared at her best friend who clung to Lucas, even though he kept trying to pull away. The act alone was startling to Riley, because if he had actually liked Maya he wouldn't pull away like that.

"Stop," Riley said after a moment. "No more lectures, I just need a moment."

Riley walked away, and went to her room, but no one followed her. She changed her clothes and wrapped herself in her comforter and waited. Then Maya walked into the room and sat at the window. Riley joined her and sat down.

"Why do you like Lucas?" Riley asked without waiting to hear Maya's question. "Maya why Lucas of all people?"

"I just do, is that a problem?" Maya answered giving her a questioning look as if it were Riley's fault they were in this problem. Of course it was Riley's fault, but in the end she was going to fix it. No more dates with Charlie Gardner, no more lies between friends, no more hurt feelings.

"Yes," she said staring at her best friend.

Maya's eyes widened at the single answer, "Riley you and Lucas are brother and sister…"

"I'm going to stop you right there," Riley interrupted. "That is a lie, I only said it because you did, I have never indicated that I liked Lucas as a brother and you know it. This is some fantasy you put together to make yourself feel better over 'falling' for the boy your best friend has had feelings for."

"No Riley," Maya said looking at her as if it would magically put them on equal footing. "When I pretended to be you…"

"You're not me," Riley said. "You're my best friend Maya, almost like a sister, but for some reason you have put this image in your head that you deserve Lucas because Josh won't return your feelings."

"You're insane," Maya said standing up and walking towards the door. "When you want to go back to normal call me."

Maya walked out of her room, but Riley already knew that everyone else had heard. This house has no secrets.

* * *

Lucas couldn't believe what he was hearing, Riley was telling Maya that this was all about Josh, that everything that was happening was because Maya feared rejection from the one guy she truly liked. He didn't feel guilty now about sending Josh that message, because in the end he knew that there would never be something between him and Maya. Even if Riley didn't live in New York, and the only people he knew were Maya, Farkle, and Zay.

Josh sent him a message to meet him at Topanga's but Lucas told him that he needed to be at the Matthews apartment. He told Josh that they needed to fix this because even though Riley was trying to fix everything, Maya needed to face the problem herself. Riley shouldn't have done so much for her best friend.

"Hey Huckleberry," Maya said as she sat down next to him. "Wanna go out on another date?"

"No," he said. He didn't want another 'date' he just wanted them to be friends and that it. "Maya I'm sorry, but I don't like you like that. I think you know that, but for some reason you keep pushing the issue."

"Not you too, Lucas, for crying out loud I like you, and I want to get to know you better."

"Then why did you pour a smoothie over my head when I told you about my biggest dream Maya?"

"Because I get this urge to mess you up, like how little kids usually push each other around because they like one another."

"That's not a healthy reason for a relationship Maya."

He stood up and walked to Riley's room, he wanted to confront all of this and finally fix the problems they were all having because he knew that if it didn't change now their friendships wouldn't survive, and if they somehow did it wouldn't be the same as it was before.

Riley was sitting on the corner of her bed wrapped in her overly large comforter, he could tell that she couldn't shake off the cold. Her lips were slightly blue around the edges but her cheeks were pink. When she looked up and met his eyes he knew that she had lied for the last few months, and it had hurt her more than she had let show.

"Why?" was all he asked her.

"Because for some reason I'm the kind of person who gives away everything without the chance of ever getting it back. Because I prioritize my friends over myself, because I'm insecure about everything, but usually only fight the social public battles while I hide away my own pain."

He sat down next to her and pulled her close, he knew her father would run him out of the room, out of the house just for being so close but he didn't care. He always liked how well she fit in the crook of his arm, how she smelled like sunshine and flowers even on a gloomy day.

"No more of that," he said as he kissed the top of her head. "Riley I've only ever liked you, I'm sorry that this all happened but it's always been you since the moment we met."

"I know, and I also know that I have to fight my best friend for this, because she's fighting herself right now because she's scared."

"So does that mean you're willing to try with me?"

"Maybe," she said looking down at the ground. "I wanted to for a while, then the mess with the yearbooks, and the semi-formal happened Texas happened. Everything happened."

"We need to be more honest about our feelings," he said. "I don't care what anyone else thinks, Riley you know me better than anyone else, even Zay who has been my friend since childhood. You've given me hope for something more than anger and darkness."

"You give me hope too," she said finally looking at him. "Now I have to go fight this out with Maya, so drag her back here will you."

She kissed him on his cheek and smiled at him. "Okay but we're not done with this conversation," he said as he walked out of the room.

* * *

Uncle Josh climbed into her room through the bay window, but Riley just pushed him into the closet and told him to be quiet. Lucas pushed Maya inside and closed the door.

"What the hell?" Maya said as she stumbled inside.

"Maya it's time to deal with your insecurities," Riley said looking her friend in the eye. "No more hiding behind me, or what I like, no more hiding behind my family, or our friends."

"I'm not insecure about anything Riley, that's all on you."

"Josh," was all Riley said looking at her best friend.

"What about him?"

"He's the one you like," Riley said.

"Yeah so what, is it bad to like Lucas too, a girl can have options you know."

"Yes they can, but not the guy that your best friend has been trying to sort her feelings for, and no don't bring up that stupid brother argument because you know that it's a lie, you're just trying to justify yourself to your own hurt feelings. Even though Josh never said anything about not liking you."

"Oh please Riley, you don't know anything."

"I do know that you're willing to hurt me, to hurt our friendship because you're as insecure as the rest of us, because you're afraid of getting hurt because one person did you wrong, while everyone else is trying to make it better. I get it your dad left, but not every guy out there is like your father so get over yourself."

"Like you would know you have everything in the world, the perfect family who's always there for you the perfect room, the perfect life."

"Yeah except its not perfect, my parents fight like every other couple in the world, I get bullied at school, and my room has been like this since I was a kid, I babysit my brother in order to afford the things I want. I work for what I want. You have a mother who loves you, a place to live, and your grandmother who's there for you. The only thing you don't have is your father and honestly he doesn't deserve you so stop acting like a martyr and figure yourself out."

Riley did the one thing she could think of and shoved Maya into the closet with Josh before shoving her desk chair under the door knob.

"While you're at it figure out how you both feel because I'm tired, and I have no strength to continue this."

Riley walked out of the room and took Lucas' hand. "I just locked her in the closet with Josh, those two or either coming out of there with the feelings sorted or I'm going to die once they come out. So I might as well live for the moment," she said and pulled down the green eyed boy before she threw her arms around his shoulders and hugged him close. "I'm sorry for pushing you away."

* * *

Maya and Josh had gotten out of the closet after two hours, Riley noticed that they were both blushing. Maya would late tell her a quick thank you, and apologize to both her and Lucas for what happened. Josh stayed in the city with them, but the two had decided to play the long game and wait out their relationship, instead they opted for talking and getting to know one another better over forcing the boyfriend/girlfriend issue.

When New Year's Eve came Riley was standing next to Lucas when midnight came, holding his hand and smiling like the sun had finally come out of the clouds. She was happy Riley once again, and she realized that love, like life was worth fighting for.


	8. Day Eight - Daughter of a Superhero

**Day 8 - AU -The Daughter of a Superhero**

 **day 8 / au + free choice** ; i'm not talking canon-compliant here. i want crazy, different circumstances, out of this world aus. send em to space. give em magical abilities. go absolutely nuts. or, write whatever you want. it's free choice! _(au hints: spies, wizarding world, "how the hell did we end up in this situation?")_

 _ **A/N: This is a part of an AU I'm going to work on this summer, sadly this part isn't RUCAS, but that's because it's just an overall teaser of the story. And I also wanted to show you a different Riley that I'm trying to bring out. This is an AU for both GMW and Marvel (well the MCU because there's so many alternate realities in the comics that I just wanted something easy)**_

 _ **A/N #2 - There's a second story from today, for those of you who have read The Cinderella Promise, I posted it with that story!**_

* * *

When Nick Fury walked into a room he commanded everyone's attention. That wasn't the same in the Stalk household. Most of the time Tony couldn't be bothered. So of course when Fury walked into the Stark mansion and strode into Tony's office, he rolled his eyes.

"What do you want Fury?" Tony said as he looked through the papers he was signing.

He had sworn that he would take care of everything once Pepper had died, and he worked damned hard to make sure the company ran with minimal problems. He had his daughter to think about, and their future. There was no time to be a hero, he gave that up a long time ago, and while he still worked on small projects for Fury, he didn't fight anymore. He didn't want to be reminded about what had happened so long ago.

"Your kid is a handful," Nick said as he sat down. "I know the world doesn't know that she's yours Stark but I'm pretty sure she's turning heads out there. Considering she blew up the science lab."

Tony couldn't help but wonder what Fury was up to or his motives for being there were but his daughter had something to do with it.

"Riley," he yelled out wondering why he hadn't just asked Friday to get Riley for him. He was a dad in that way, calling out to her, being home for dinner, small things he had never thought about before he had a kid.

Not too long afterwards the brunette ran down and slid into the room. She smiled when she saw Fury and gave the man a quick hug before walking over to Tony and sitting down next to him.

"What's up?" she said as she looked at her father, "Hey Uncle Nick?" she smiled. Fury was the only person outside of the Matthews Family who knew that Riley was his daughter. She had an alternative life, so that the press wouldn't know, but she was a Stark through and through.

"You blew up the science lab?" Tony asked getting a knowing smile from his daughter.

"Well," she said looking down at her hands. "I was attempting to create this compound for you to use to make that line of drug detectors you know the ones we talked about, that way someone knew if they were getting drugged and I think the chemical compound I used well... it sorta exploded."

Tony couldn't help but laugh as Riley looked at him with a I'm not really guilty face, he knew she was always trying something new but when it came to school he always told her to hold back.

"I guess you forgot the rules of the house," Tony said to her trying to be serious.

"No but I was so close to a breakthrough that I sort of let it get away from me, because it's for the greater good."

Tony didn't know what to do, she was so much like him with the sassiness of her mother, but he also knew that Fury came over for a reason so he sent Riley away before turning back to the man in front of him.

"Why does her little experiment scare you so much Nick?" he ask honestly curious about why the man had shown up just because she had blown the science lab.

Fury smiled at him, like all the other times before Tony knew this had something to do with the Avengers. "Well I just wanted to say that maybe she should come to the new S.H.E. . School we've set up. And before you argue against it, I know that she already knows about Iron Man and the Avengers, you just don't want her exposed to all of that because then she would have to deal with the fact that she's Tony Stark's daughter."

"That's not why… well mostly," he said thinking back to the last time he had actually interacted with his one-time friends. I hadn't ended so well, and even though they had worked together to defeat that other worldly power hungry jack-ass Thanos, he wanted something better for his daughter.

"Tony no one knows who she is, for the most part she could just be an asset to us, and you can teach there if it would make you feel better."

He sighed thinking that he needed a break from Stark Industries, he missed the overall aspect of starting something new. He missed his one-time friends.

"I'll talk to her about it," he said which earned him a nod from Fury before the man walked out of the house. "Maybe it will be different now, maybe I can deal with seeing them all there again."

* * *

Riley had FRIDAY playing her workshop playlist while working on a new project, she didn't want to deal with chemicals for a while since she nearly blew off her eyebrows when the science lab exploded. She knew that the Matthews would be called in the next day to deal with it, and her father was probably trying to keep her from being kicked out of another school just because she was trying to make it easier for girls to be able to detect date rape drugs.

"Riley," she head her father call out over the music, which only caused her to drop the soldering iron and jump away before it landed on her jeans.

"Damn it dad," she said as she picked it up and laid it on her work table.

"What have I told you about playing music in the workshop?"

"That it should be louder, and probably AC/DC."

"That's my girl," he said kissing her on the head.

Riley laughed, she knew him too well. "So what did Uncle Nick want today?"

"For you to go to the Avenger's School," he said.

She couldn't believe it, she knew about her father's other life long before she was born, now at sixteen someone wanted to bring her into that world. But she also remembered the ramifications of his life in that world. Her mother died because of the constant danger, and she knew that something had happened between him and Captain America, and whatever that was it had caused a rift so bad the two haven't spoken to one another for years. Almost sixteen years according to the age of the man's son.

"I don't know," she said wondering if it was a good idea especially since no one knew who she was. "Wouldn't it bring problems to what we are?"

"Riley regardless of anything you are the heir of the Stark fortune, but you are also one smart ass kid, and even though I wanted you to be more than I was, I also want you to reach your full potential. Your Uncle Peter teaches there too so it should be alright, he can help you."

"Okay, and it's closer than the school I was going to so I wouldn't need to take a nearly two hour train ride to get there. We could have dinner together and everything."

"Well," her father hesitated. "He asked me to come and teach at the school as well."

"So we can be home at the same time for once?"

"I'm thinking about it, it might be good to take a break from S.I. plus I'm pretty sure that Vision has the company handled when I'm not around."

"That's because he doesn't sleep," she smiled thinking about at least some normal time with her father. They could make Italian food, or watch horrible movies, or even invent something together.

"As long as I keep up with my projects, which means," he smiled. "Show me what you have."


	9. Announcement

Well that's it for Rucas Fanfic Week!

I'm happy you all liked the short one-shots, I'm glad I got to write them along with my papers for school.

I didn't want to change the rating for this story (I'm lazy right now) The other One-Shot I wrote for the last day was for The Cinderella Promise, and it's a mature rating... I kind of let my mind take over on that one so it's a little... dirty... it's a lot dirty.

The next one up is A Moment in Time, which I should start posting some time in June, and after that is the Superhero AU that I wrote a preview for Day 8, which is a crossover for Marvel and Girl Meets World.

I'm still taking oneshot request in my One-Shot story so send me your prompts and I'll work on them when I can.

Until June my pretties!


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